Hitting home

Dick Van Nostrand | Times Photo fileMessages on shirts from the Clothesline Project are color-coded by the nature of the abuse: yellow for domestic abuse, red for rape, blue for sexual abuse of children and white for a victim killed by violence.

The recent murder-suicide that claimed a popular, high-profile, community-minded couple in Bay City shows that domestic violence cuts across all demographics and can devastate families who appear, on the surface, to have happy lives.

On Aug. 2, Bay City resident David Hetzel fatally bludgeoned his wife, Sharron, before setting their home on fire and stabbing himself in the heart, police reports indicate. He was a former restaurant owner and caterer; she had been an administrator for the Girl Scouts and Studio 23/The Arts Center. They were both 56 years old.

Bay County crime log filled with acts of violence
Regina Turner, executive director of the Bay Area Women's Center, said the crime struck her personally, as the Hetzels were her good friends. She said murder at the hands of a spouse is the ''ultimate act of domestic violence.''

''When you take your own life, you're able to make that decision,'' she said. ''But he made a decision for her. It may have been an atypical case of domestic violence, but it was definitely domestic violence.''

Turner said that by the time abusive relationships become physically violent, it's usually after escalating episodes of the perpetrator asserting control over his victim.

''It isn't always about beating someone up,'' Turner said.

''It's about controlling the life of your partner. It's about controlling what they do and how they live.''

And it can impact anyone.

''It happens in every class, every race, every socioeconomic level,'' said Tracy Rainey, a program director for the Bay Area Women's Center.

''People who have more resources, we may not be as likely to see them at the shelter. But it happens to them, too.''

And it happens more often than you might think.

Bay City Police have responded to 143 calls of domestic violence episodes so far this year. Last year, they took 308 reports of domestic violence, up from 255 in 2006.

Countywide, more than 400 criminal charges have been brought against alleged perpetrators of acts of domestic violence in each of the past five years. With four months left in 2008, the number of charges already has reached 337.

Turner said the women's center, 3411 E. Midland Road, assisted about 1,000 domestic violence victims last year, providing shelter, counseling and help in establishing new, safer lives away from their abusers. About half those clients stayed at the shelter. On most days, 20 people are there, Turner said, but on several occasions recently, the population swelled to more than 40.

Turner said that one myth about domestic violence turns out to be true: When a victim decides to end the abuse by leaving the perpetrator, that is a ''very, very dangerous time.''

''I like the analogy of a person swinging a brick that's tied to a rope. The closer you are to that person, the safer you are. It's very true for survivors of domestic violence, too,'' she said.

A new state law that took effect this month allows judges to order domestic violence suspects - even before they go to trial - to wear global positioning system devices that will send alerts to the alleged victims and authorities if they come too close.

So far, Bay County judges have not used that tool. But Bay County Prosecutor Kurt C. Asbury said he plans to implement the technology to help keep victims safe before and after their alleged abusers are incarcerated.

''It's one more tool that we will use to protect victims,'' Asbury said. ''This office takes domestic violence very, very seriously and realizes the damage that it does not only to victims but to families and the community.''

Protection orders traditionally have sought to protect victims in their homes, at work or their children's school. But GPS technology now allows ''zones'' of protection to move with the victims if they wear a device.

The GPS technology has limitations - if there is poor cell phone coverage, for example. And zones must be large enough so victims can be alerted in time to react. But the systems also can help police determine whether an offender violated a protective order.

The law was lobbied for by family members of Mary Babb, whose husband rammed her vehicle then shot her outside her workplace in Mount Pleasant last year.

Babb had filed for divorce and moved out. She had a court order protecting her from her husband, but he kept following her.

Thomas D. Babb, 38, of Evart, who pleaded no contest to murder and other charges, is serving a 52- to 75-year prison sentence in the slaying.

Babb's appeal to withdraw his no-contest plea was denied by a state Court of Appeals earlier this month.

Turner, executive director of the women's center, said the tide is starting to turn regarding public attitudes about domestic violence.

''It used to be seen as a women's problem, and those who cared about the issue were seen as man-haters,'' she said. ''Now it's starting to be understood as a community problem.''

In the case of the Hetzels, the incident has sent shockwaves through the community as friends and neighbors struggle to answer the question - why?

A letter David Hetzel wrote to his daughters and mailed the day before the crime spree blames his actions on financial problems. He wrote that he expected to be removed from the house at 406 N. Farragut St., as the home had been foreclosed upon and a judge had ordered the Hetzels to vacate.

He wrote in the letter, obtained by The Times from the Bay City Police Department through a Freedom of Information Act request, that he ''couldn't face this last humiliation.''

David Hetzel wrote that the couple's ''inability to keep our (finances) intact, throughout our years together, eventually led to this outcome.

''There was no one to whom we could turn for help,'' he wrote. ''We have had to do that too many times in the past. ...''

The letter continued, ''This was the cowardly way out, and that's what I have become over the last seven months, unable to talk to your mom about it. This time, I lacked the hope for a good outcome and the strength to start over yet again. I'm so very sorry.''

Sharron Hetzel died of blunt-force trauma to the head and stab wounds to the chest; David Hetzel died of a single wound to the heart. Police reports indicate a golf club and two knives are the suspected weapons in the attack.

Turner said it's not uncommon for families plagued by domestic violence to have financial problems, although she said economic troubles are ''no excuse'' for physical abuse.

Bay City Police Chief Michael J. Cecchini said he, too, has seen a link between economic troubles and acts of domestic violence.

''It's not uncommon for domestic conflicts to occur over money issues,'' he said. ''In my opinion, we will see more domestic violence as the economy continues to suffer.''